


this isn't what it looks like

by witchgrassi



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M, slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 02:19:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4122370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchgrassi/pseuds/witchgrassi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>roughly based on this prompt : "my cat jumped onto your balcony and into your window and I had to go and save him but you came home sooner than expected and I'm not a burglar I swear"</p>
            </blockquote>





	this isn't what it looks like

**Author's Note:**

> hello guys! This is the first AU I'm posting on here so I hope you guys like it? I worked really hard on it and I'm proud of it. Please tell me if you like it and what you think!

"Mittens, I swear to god, don't you dare-" Tyler lunged at his cat that was perched on the windowsill, already preparing to jump out onto the balcony. He barely grasped the cats tail as he scurried across the ledge of the balcony, running across it and hopping easily into the neighboring apartments window. 

"You have got to be joking." Peering out the window, he could see his cat prancing around the other apartment, finally settling down onto the couch. Tyler smacked his palms to his face and sighed loudly. 

"Oh Tyler, you just had to have that cat." He mocked himself as he straddled the windowsill, mentally preparing himself for the walk across the balconies. He silently cursed himself for choosing an apartment on the third floor as his gaze went directly to the busy street below. 

"Okay, you can do this. Think about Mittens. Poor, scared Mittens all alone in a strangers apartment." This caused him to chuckle slightly, because if it was anything, Mittens wasn't scared. He was probably having the nap of his life as Tyler crawled across the balcony. With one swift jump, he threw himself into the other apartment, sighing in relief and kissing the ground dramatically. 

"MITTENS, I AM SO MAD AT YOU, COME HERE." Tyler picked up the rebellious cat, cradling him to his chest angrily. 

"You could have been hurt! What if they had a dog? It could have killed you! Come on let's get out of here before the person that lives here gets back." Just as the words left Tyler's mouth, the door opened and Tyler was face to face with the cutest guy he had ever seen. 

He had bright red hair and adorable brown eyes that were squinted slightly. His mouth was open slightly in confusion as Tyler gaped at him, in slight awe and massive embarrassment. 

"This isn't what it looks like, I'm not a burglar I swear. You left your window open- which isn't very smart by the way, someone could have broken in!" Tyler was rambling and the cute mystery man raised his eyebrows as he took in Tyler's words. He blushed almost as red as mystery man's hair and hurried to explain himself. 

"No you see, I wasn't breaking in because you left the window open, and my devil of a cat, Mittens, decided it would be a great idea to run across the balconies and into your apartment. And since I love him I just had to come rescue him! Please don't call the cops!" Tyler was panicking slightly now, what if cute mystery man didn't believe his story? He was only trying to rescue Mittens! The guy had to understand that, right?

"So let me get this straight. You have a cat named Mittens?" Mystery man now had a huge grin on his face, chuckling slightly. Tyler frowned in response. 

"Don't make fun of his name! He loves his name, don't you Mittens?" Tyler planted a kiss on his cats forehead and smiled sheepishly at the guy who was now full on laughing at him. 

"Um, I'm Tyler. Tyler Joseph. I live next door, but I'm sure you knew that..." He introduced himself, holding his free hand out for the other man to shake. 

"I'm Josh Dun. Welcome to my humble abode." Josh held out his arms in a sweeping gesture, and Tyler took it as his opportunity to look around. He nodded approvingly as his gaze stopped on a set of worn out drums in the corner of the room. 

"You play drums?" Josh glanced over at them and grinned. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty good, or at least I like to think so. You play drums too?" 

"God no, I play the ukulele though. And I sing a little. My mom thinks I'm good." He said with a nonchalant shrug. He sensed the silence growing awkward and he eyed the window warily, hoping Josh would let him use the door instead. 

"Well it was nice meeting you! I think I'll just go back to my apartment now." He made no move to leave. Josh made no move to show him to the door. After a few seconds of silent staring, Josh finally broke it, much to Tyler's relief. 

"Or you could stay? I just bought a pizza, we could watch TV and have dinner?" Josh asked, a hopeful glint in his eye. Tyler didn't have the heart to say no and that he had already eaten dinner, so he agreed, moving to sink down onto the couch slowly. 

'What am I doing? I don't even know this guy, he could be a serial killer! He may try to kill Mittens!' Tyler made sure to tuck Mittens close to his side nonchalantly, hoping Josh wouldn't notice. 

He grabbed the slice of pizza Josh offered him as he turned on the TV. Awkwardly taking a bite, he turned slightly toward Josh, trying to see if he looked as uncomfortable as Tyler felt. 

After a few minutes of silence, Tyler bent towards the box of pizza to grab another slice, just as Josh was doing the same. He quickly grabbed a different piece and took a huge bite, his eyes trained on the ground, hoping to avoid anymore awkward moments like that one. 

He finally looked up as he heard Josh giggle. Not laugh, giggle. It had to be the cutest giggle Tyler had ever heard in his entire life. Before he could react Josh reached out his hand and swiped his thumb over Tyler's nose. 

"You had pizza sauce on your nose, how did you even manage that?" He giggled again and Tyler cooed at him. In his mind, of course. 

"Um I don't know? I'm a messy eater I guess." He blushed, a small small on his lips at how Josh's eyes squinted even more when he laughed. He glanced quickly at his phone, and cursed as he saw the time. His phone brightly showed the time 11:56.

"Crap, I really gotta go! I have to be up early tomorrow for work!" Tyler scrambled to his feet, running towards the door with Mittens in his arms, screeching like a banshee at being woken up so violently. He paused momentarily at the door before turning back and calling :

"Later, Josh!" as he ran out of the apartment, and down the hall to his own. 

After feeding Mittens and making sure all his windows were locked tight, he hopped under his covers and fell asleep to the thought of a red haired boy with squinty eyes. 

~morning~ 

Tyler sat up in his bed, wildly searching for his alarm clock to shut off the annoying beeping it had been making. He contemplated going back to bed for a good thirty seconds before he sighed and forced himself to go and start the coffee.

While the coffee was making, he fed Mittens and went to take a quick shower. He felt much more awake after that and downed his coffee quickly. Pulling on his black jeans and a plain black t-shirt, he ran out the door, locking it behind him and hurrying off to work. 

He had just finished helping a teenage girl find the newest Justin Bieber CD, when the door bell jingled, signaling he had another customer. Without looking up from the computer where he was answering emails, he said the customary greeting. 

"Hello, how are you? Let me know if you need help finding anything today!" 

"How's Mittens doing? I'm sure you scared the crap out of him, running out of my apartment and screaming like a banshee last night." A mischievous voice that Tyler recognized immediately recognized as Josh's chuckled from in front of the counter. His eyes shot up, connecting with the other man's, a blush already present on his face. 

"I had to be up early for work.." He mumbled, trying to hide the embarrassment in his voice. Josh's eyes crinkled as he grinned at Tyler. 

"You said, well screamed, that as you ran out, but it's cool. I'm glad I got to see you again. Without you having to break into my apartment." Tyler groaned loudly as Josh brought that up. 

"I wasn't breaking in, I just had to-" Josh cut him off. 

"Rescue Mittens, I know. It's fine man, I'm just screwing with you. Anyways, maybe you could help me find a few things? I need some new drumsticks and a couple of CDs." Tyler smiled at him and agreed, walking with him to the wall of things needed to play instruments. There were several different types of guitar picks, drumsticks and other various things. It took Josh well over twenty minutes to decide on the kind of drumsticks he needed for the new song he had been working on. He told Tyler all about it and he couldn't help but grin at Josh's enthusiasm over the piece. After they had picked out drumsticks they walked over to the rows of various CDs. 

"I'm looking for a few different CDs. I need Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, The Black Parade and Danger Days, all by My Chemical Romance." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as Tyler gaped at him. It took him a few seconds to be able to speak. 

"DUDE. YOU LIKE MY CHEM TOO?" He shouted this, lowering his voice at the withering look his shift manager gave him. He waved back happily, causing Josh to snicker. 

"Yes! They are so amazing, I have been using the drum styles for their songs to try to get a feel of how I want this song to go." Josh was bouncing on his feet excitedly and Tyler couldn't help but let a huge toothy grin cover his face, because seriously, what didn't he like about Josh at this point. 

"I would love to hear you play it sometime, if that's cool with you." He said bravely, a hopeful expression on his face. Josh grinned widely and nodded his agreement. 

"How does tonight sound? Since I have these CDs now I can finish up the last few sections of the song and I'd love your opinion. I can pick you up when you get off work?" Josh asked, hope written across his features as well. Tyler nodded frantically. 

"YES I WOULD LOVE TO!! I mean uh. Yeah sure, that could be fun." He said, trying to seem nonchalant. He was sure Josh saw right through his facade, as he was probably just as excited as him. 

"Stop flirting and get back to work Tyler!" His shift manager called, glaring at him again. Tyler waited until she was out of sight and shot her a bird. 

"Let's go ring you up okay?" Tyler went behind the counter and calculated the total for Josh's things, adding a ridiculous discount that he hoped his boss wouldn't notice. He bagged all of Josh's things and handed it to him. He tapped on his computer a bit before he looked back at Josh, who was staring at him expectedly. 

"Are you gonna tell me when you get off work?" Josh asked as Tyler slapped his palm to his forehead. 

"Oh duh! I get off at eight, here let me give you my number." Grabbing a business card and scribbling his cell number along with his name and a smiley face, he handed it back to Josh. Josh programmed the number into his phone and sent Tyler a quick text so Tyler could save his number. 

"Well, I'll see you at eight I guess. Bye Tyler!" He called as he walked out of the store. Tyler sighed dreamily and totally didn't check out Josh's ass as he walked away. 

~~~~

Tyler could hardly stand it. He had been nervous and fidgety all day, his stomach twisting in knots as he waited for eight o'clock to come. He glanced at the clock for the 15th time in the past hour, and sighed. It was 7:50, and they were beginning to close the store. He threw himself into inventory and shutting down the registers and checking the money so he wouldn't pass out from the butterflies in his stomach. 

He finally got done and locked up the doors, waiting patiently outside the store, pulling his jacket on as the wind blew. After a couple of minutes, a small car drove up and the window rolled down. He grinned as he saw Josh and went to hop into the front seat. 

"So are we headed back to your apartment?" He asked as Josh pulled out onto the main road. 

"Back to my apartment, believe it or not, I paid a little extra to have soundproof walls, it's a lot cheaper than having to rent out a studio to play in. With what I make at IKEA, I can't really afford that and an apartment and still be able to pay for food." Tyler nodded, he could definitely relate to that. They pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and ran inside. Josh waited outside Tyler's door as he went inside to feed Mittens. 

They both entered Josh's apartment, and Tyler slipped off his shoes and laid them where Josh put his. He padded around the apartment in his socks, looking around at everything as he waited for Josh to set his drums up. 

He hopped onto the couch as Josh tore open his new pack of drumsticks. He grinned widely at Tyler. 

"You ready? This might be a little bit choppy, I still haven't been able to figure out what it's missing, but here goes!" With that, Josh began to play. 

Tyler stared at the red-haired boy in awe as he banged and stamped out a beat on his drums. His mouth was open slightly and he was furrowing his brow in concentration as he made sure to hit the notes at the right time. The tempo was so fast that Tyler could barely keep up, and he was thoroughly impressed at how good Josh was. He couldn't help but let his gaze roam over Josh's arms and how they flexed when he hit the drums harder and faster. His gaze also caught over Josh's hands and how small and dainty they were to be able to punch out the hard beats of the song he played so furiously. He couldn't help but let his thoughts wander over what else Josh would use his hands for, and Tyler suddenly felt very awkward, having to force himself to start thinking about his grandmother so he wouldn't get a boner every-time he saw Josh play. 

After a few more seconds, Josh had finished and he was panting and grinning and Tyler had a huge revelation. 

"WAIT RIGHT HERE. ILL BE RIGHT BACK." With this he ran out of the apartment and back to his own, grabbing his book of lyrics and his ukulele. He skipped through the door and skidding to a halt in front of Josh, who was staring at him with a confused expression. 

"What's that?" He asked, eyeing Tyler's black case and book warily. Tyler opened it up and brought out his ukulele, showing it to Josh before he opened up his lyric book. 

"I have a totally weird idea, so bear with me. Whenever I signal you, start playing the song again, okay?" Tyler started strumming his uke and after a few chords he signaled Josh to begin playing his song. He waited for a few beats before he began to sing. 

'I found my way,  
Right time, wrong place  
As I plead my case. 

You're the judge, oh no, set me free  
You're the judge, oh no, set me free  
I know my soul's freezing  
Hell's hot for good reason, so please, take me. 

I don't know if this song, is a surrender or a revel,  
I don't know if this one is about me or the devil. 

You're the judge, oh no, set me free  
You're the judge, oh no, set me free  
I know my soul's freezing  
Hell's hot for good reason, so please, take me.'

He faded out on the last of the lyrics he had written and opened his eyes slowly. He met Josh's eyes and to his surprise, the other man was gaping at him like he had just grown a second head. He wiped his hand over his face nervously, waiting on Josh to say something. 

"Um.. It's not finished yet, obviously.. I know I'm not a very good singer and I really only sing a little-" Josh cut Tyler off with a shout. 

"A little?! You sing a little? Good god, your voice is amazing! Did you write that? That's so amazing, holy shit." Josh was rambling and Tyler felt his face turn crimson at Josh's praise. 

"It's just something I've been working on, and your song sounded amazing so I thought they'd go good together? Did you think they did? I got kinda lost in the song to really listen, that was the first time I've ever sang it in front of anyone and I wanted it to be good. I hope it's okay that I did that.., you aren't mad are you?" Now it was Tyler's turn to ramble. Josh crossed over the living room and sat down next him on the couch, grabbing one of Tyler's hands. 

"Tyler. I am so not mad for you showing me that song, it went perfectly with my drums and wow. You have a beautiful voice. I'm honestly kind of speechless right now." Josh let out a breathless laugh, and Tyler giggled as well, all too aware of how closely they were now sitting. He was certain that if he just leaned forward, their lips would touch, just slightly. 

He went to say something but the thought exited his brain as Josh moved his other hand to the back of Tyler's neck, stopping him from moving away to speak. 

"I've wanted to kiss you for a long time you know. Ever since I moved in and saw you in the lobby, I was so attracted to you. But you never seemed to notice me. Thank god you broke into my apartment.." Josh breathed, his words fanning over Tyler's face as he inched closer, ever so slightly. Tyler went to say something to defend himself, but all his thoughts were lost as Josh's lips connected to his. 

Their mouths molded together, moving in sync with each other as they scrambled closer to deepen the kiss. Tyler ended up being pulled into Josh's lap, and they stayed like that for a while, just getting used to the feel of each other and kissing like teenagers. After a few minutes they broke off the kiss, resting their foreheads together, panting and trying to catch their breath. 

"I had always noticed you, Josh. Ever since you had moved in, I had noticed you. It's kind of impossible not to." He said, his hand reaching up to run through Josh's bright red hair. This made Josh smile his signature smile that Tyler was beginning to love. He smiled back at Josh, pecking him on the lips softly. 

"So, Tyler. Will you go out with me?" Josh asked, tracing circles onto Tyler's back with his thumbs. 

"Yes. I'd love to go out with you, Josh."

Years later when Josh and Tyler had formed their band, Twenty One Pilots, Tyler began telling the story of how they met at each concert they played. 

"It all started on the night I broke into Josh's apartment to rescue my cat..."

And after one particular concert, after Tyler had just finished telling the story of how they formed the band, Josh did something that he had never done before. 

Josh scrambled to the front of the stage to stand next to Tyler. He grabbed the mic from Tyler's hands and turned to the crowd. 

"I have a little something I'd like to say, if that's alright with you guys." The crowd roared with excitement, because Josh rarely ever spoke during any of the shows they played. 

He turned back to Tyler, cupping his face with one hand. After a quick kiss that had the crowd going crazy, he dropped to his knees, effectively silencing the crowd. They were all staring at him in awe as he began to speak.

"Tyler Joseph, we met five years ago when you broke into my apartment. I had no idea that when I left my window open when I went to get dinner that the love of my life was going to sneak through it to get his devil cat. The first time we played together, I knew that we were going to do incredible things. There wasn't a doubt in my mind about that. And I also knew, that from the moment I met you, I had to do everything I could to make you mine. I love you more than words can express. Tyler, will you marry me?" With these words, he pulled a small black box out of his pocket, and opened it to reveal a small, silver black band. 

Tyler was sobbing at this point, and he could barely manage to shout an ecstatic "YES" into the microphone before he threw his arms around Josh. He cried into his shoulder for a few seconds before he cupped Josh's face and kissed him softly. 

"I love you, Joshua Dun. Yes, I will marry you."


End file.
